Four of Vietnam’s top billiards players, including Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh, are competing in the main round of the three-cushion Carom World Cup, taking place today, November 8, in Seoul. Both Quyet Chien and Phuong Vinh qualified directly for the main round due to their top 14 world rankings.
Tran Quyet Chien, Vietnam’s number one player and the reigning World Cup champion after his recent victory in Veghel, Netherlands on October 26, is competing in Group B. He opened his campaign against Roland Forthomme at 8 a.m. Hanoi time. Quyet Chien’s group also includes two South Korean players, Jeong Ye-sung and Seo Chang-hoon.
Phuong Vinh, currently outside the top 14 and in need of a strong showing to regain seeding status for future World Cups, was placed in Group H. He played his first match against Sameh Sidhom at 10 a.m., alongside Korean competitors Jeong Sung-il and Kang Ja-in.
Two other Vietnamese players, Dao Van Ly and Nguyen Hoan Tat, successfully advanced through the qualifying rounds to join the main competition. Van Ly faces off against billiards legend Eddy Merckx, while Hoan Tat takes on Marco Zanetti, with both matches scheduled for 10 a.m. The progress of these two players to the main round has been a surprise, with Hoan Tat entering from the second qualifying round and Van Ly from the third.
The tournament format includes four qualifying rounds, a main round, and a knockout stage. Vietnam had additional players in the final qualifying round, including Chiem Hong Thai, Thon Viet Hoang Minh, and Tran Thanh Luc, who narrowly missed advancing. Notably, Thanh Luc, the reigning World Championship runner-up, and Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu, who recently reached the World Cup semifinals in Veghel, also exited in earlier qualifying rounds.
The host nation, South Korea, has a dominant presence with 12 players in the main round of 32. Vietnam and Turkey follow with four players each. The players compete in a round-robin format, with the top 16 advancing to the knockout stage tomorrow.
Main Round Group Stage Lineup
- Group A: Dick Jaspers, Jeremy Bury, Daniel Morales, Choi Wan-young
- Group B: Tran Quyet Chien, Roland Forthomme, Jeong Ye-sung, Seo Chang-hoon
- Group C: Cho Myung-woo, Park Joong-kun, Tolgahan Kiraz, Ahmet Alp
- Group D: Kim Jun-tae, Kim Haeng-jik, Glenn Hofman, Ruben Legazpi
- Group E: Eddy Merckx, Torbjorn Blomdahl, Lee Beom-yeol, Dao Van Ly
- Group F: Martin Horn, Peter Ceulemans, Marco Zanetti, Nguyen Hoan Tat
- Group G: Tayfun Tasdemir, Omer Karakurt, Heo Jung-han, Song Hyun-il
- Group H: Bao Phuong Vinh, Jeong Sung-il, Kang Ja-in, Sameh Sidhom
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